ROAR for Good is a women-led and mission-driven technology company dedicated to creating safer workplaces for women and other at-risk populations. Founded by Yasmine Mustafa, a refugee from Kuwait in 2014, ROAR for Good is currently headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Their staff safety platform, AlwaysOn, protects staff no matter where they are. The patent-pending security solution is powered by fail-safe technology to empower employees to feel secure and connected.
734 Coffee is a social enterprise, providing ethically sourced, fair trade, naturally farmed coffee from Gambela, Ethiopia, a region which currently hosts over 700,000 refugees from South Sudan. 734 Coffee is led by Manyang Reath Kher, who spent much of his young life in a refugee camp in Gambela, before eventually earning a degree in International Law from the University of Richmond. It was there that he founded the Humanity Helping Sudan Project, a non-profit which works in close coordination with 734 Coffee. Currently 80% of profits are used to provide scholarships and education programs for refugees in Sudan.
Since winning the 2016 Refugee Challenge organized by What Design Can Do, UNHCR and Ikea Foundation, Makers Unite has experienced tremendous growth as a social enterprise dedicated to creating and empowering a network of refugee designers and locals working together to forge a more inclusive future. They work to empower newcomers to Europe by engaging their creativity to produce innovative products and fashion items. Examples include handbags made from recycled life-vests worn by refugees from the shores of Greece, and a collaboration between Syrian soap makers and a Dutch ceramic company Cor Unum.
Founded by Mursal Hedayat, a refugee from Afghanistan living in the UK, and Guillemette Dejean, a Y Combinator alum, Chatterbox is an online language learning platform designed and delivered by refugees. Language skills and cultural knowledge are increasingly necessary for professionals in the globalized economy. The Chatterbox digital platform uniquely combines AI-powered self-study courses alongside algorithmically matched native language coaches from the refugee community. Coaches are paired with students based on shared professional backgrounds and interests, achieving industry topping completion rates and unbeatable relevance in learning. On the app, engineers are learning Arabic from fellow engineers and aid workers are learning French from medical doctors. And while Chatterbox clients learn, their refugee coaches earn a living, improve their employability, and reclaim their professional identities. Classes can be offered one-on-one, in small groups, to whole classrooms, or for organizations who purchase lessons on behalf of their members.
